You do not need a pitch. You need one fair question for your deal advisor, asked at the right point in the sale. This guide gives you the words, then five common worries with calm answers.
When to bring it up
The best moment is when your advisor collects the systems list for the data room. You are already naming tools. Slack, email, CRM and tickets come up on their own.
Listing kickoff
Systems list
Raise it when the list is on the table.
Data room build
What to say
Say it in your own voice. Here is a base you can trim.
"While we build the data room, one quick thing. Companies our size sometimes have years of Slack, email and CRM notes that AI labs will pay to use. Most records are worth little. Some are worth a phone call. Can we check ours before we list?"
It helps to run the free data check first and bring the result with you. If your advisor asks what licensing means, use this.
"Think of it like renting a room in a house we own. A lab uses the records for a while, under rules. We keep the house. My lawyer reads every contract before anything moves."
Keep the ask small. Ask for a check now. You can decide about licensing later.
3 min
About three minutes to see a first result
Five worries, with calm answers
"Will this slow down the sale?"
The check runs beside the sale. It does not add a step to the buyer's path. You choose whether a license happens before close, at close or after.
"What about our employees' privacy?"
A fair worry, and a big one. Records hold employee messages, and some rules protect them.
Daniel Goldberg, a partner at Frankfurt Kurnit, lists employee chat and third-party secrets among the main risks, per his 2026 note.
Nothing leaves the building until you and your lawyer agree. Our risks page lists each issue in plain words.
"Is that money real?"
Some of it is. Public deals have run from $10,000 to $100,000 for small shutdowns, per Gizmodo.
Google won the auction for one airline's archive with a $10 million bid, and court approval is pending, per Time. Those are ranges from public deals. They are not a promise, and many records are worth little.
"Who owns the records after the sale?"
Whoever the deal documents say. That is why it helps to settle it early. Our data line guide shows the three LOI options. Your lawyer picks one.
"Can my advisor be paid for this?"
Yes, if they tell you in writing first. We may pay a deal advisor who introduces you a referral fee on a deal that closes. You pay nothing extra.
Your advisor's own rules decide what they can accept. How your deal advisor gets paid covers it.
What to do after the talk
Run the check
The free data check, about three minutes.
Write it down
Note what you and your advisor agreed.
Add the folder
A "Records and AI" folder in the data room.
If you want to talk it through, send Matt a note. If your advisor sent you, we tell you so, and we let them know once we have talked. To see who buys what, read the buyer comparison.
A few tips for the conversation
- Say "records" more than "data."
- Use the rented-room picture. Skip the tech.
- Quote real numbers with their source and the word "range."
- Treat any amount as a range. Nobody can promise one.
